Sexy Beast **** (2000, Ray Winstone, Ben Kingsley, Ian McShane) – Classic Movie Review 674

The 2000 British film Sexy Beast is extreme crime thriller stuff, but it’s tense, fresh, funny and well judged. Ray Winstone does his London lowlife turn to great effect and Ben Kingsley manages to be shockingly nasty.

Debut director Jonathan Glazer’s 2000 black comedy crime film Sexy Beast stars Ray Winstone, Ben Kingsley, and Ian McShane.

Ben Kingsley stars as Mr Evil Mobster, aka the incredibly brutal British gangster Don Logan, who arrives from London to talk a retired villain, safecracker Gary ‘Gal’ Dove (Ray Winstone), out of his Spanish villa paradise to do one last job back home. This is planned to be a heist of epic proportions.

Gal is a bit put out, because he’s busy sunbathing round the pool of his Spanish paradise with his wife Deedee (Amanda Redman), pal Aitch (Cavan Kendall, brother of actress Kay Kendall, in his final film) and the lovely Jackie (Julianne White).

Sexy Beast is really extreme crime thriller stuff – it’s shockingly foul-mouthed and violent – but it’s extremely tense, fresh, funny and well judged.

Winstone does his London lowlife turn one more time – and this time to very great effect – and Oscar-nominated Kingsley manages to be shockingly nasty, making you wonder if he really did play Gandhi years ago. Ian McShane and James Fox also star.

Climaxing in a sensational underwater bank robbery, this finally looks like a decent Brit gangster movie to rival Hollywood. Filmed in Agua Amarga, Almeria, Spain, in 2000, this is a promising feature debut as director for commercials-pop video maker Jonathan Glazer. He went on to direct Birth (2004), Under the Skin (2013), and The Zone of Interest (2023). Louis Mellis and David Scinto write the first-class screenplay.

The cast are Ray Winstone as Gary ‘Gal’ Dove, Ben Kingsley as Don Logan,  Ian McShane as Teddy Bass, Amanda Redman as DeeDee Dove, James Fox as Harry, Cavan Kendall as Aitch, Julianne White as Jackie, and Álvaro Monje as Enrique.

Top 20 British heist movies

© Derek Winnert 2014 Classic Movie Review 674 derekwinnert.com